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Castle Point ... catbird

Castle Point: borough (district), administrative and historic county of Essex, eastern England, on the north side of the River Thames near its mouth. Castle Point is a low-lying borough of tidal inlets ...
Castle Rising: village ("parish"), King's Lynn and West Norfolk borough, administrative and historic county of Norfolk, England. A great Norman castle with a massive square keep stands within a 12-acre (5-hectare) enclosure ...
Castle, Vernon and Irene: U.S. husband-and-wife dancing team, famous as the originators of the one-step and the turkey trot.
Castlebar: market and county town, County Mayo, Ireland, at the head of Lough (lake) Castlebar. The town was founded early in the 17th century and was incorporated in 1613. It is ...
Castlemaine: city in central Victoria, southeastern Australia, located 8 miles (13 km) east of the Loddon River and 78 miles (126 km) northwest of Melbourne. In 1836 the area was crossed ...
Castlemainian Stage: time division of the Ordovician Period in Australia and New Zealand (the Ordovician Period began about 500,000,000 years ago and lasted about 70,000,000 years). The Castlemainian Stage precedes the Yapeenian ...
Castlereagh: district, Northern Ireland, located directly southeast of Belfast, from where it is administered. Formerly astride Down and Antrim counties, Castlereagh was established as a district in 1973. Its rolling lowlands ...
Castlereagh, Robert Stewart, Viscount: British foreign secretary (1812-22), who helped guide the Grand Alliance against Napoleon and was a major participant in the Congress of Vienna, which redrew the map of Europe in 1815.
Castleton State College: public, coeducational institution of higher learning located in Castleton, Vt., U.S. The curriculum is based on the traditional liberal arts, and the university also offers study in business, education, and ...
Castletown: town and ancient capital of the Isle of Man, one of the British Isles, on Castletown Bay, which is formed by the River Silver Burn. Castle Rushen, perhaps founded in ...
Castor: multiple star having at least six component stars, in the zodiacal constellation Gemini. The stars Castor and Pollux are named for the twins of Greek mythology. Castor's combined apparent visual ...
castor oil: nonvolatile fatty oil obtained from the seeds of the castor bean, Ricinus communis, of the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae). It is used in the production of synthetic resins, plastics, fibres, paints, ...
castor-oil plant: (Ricinus communis), large plant, of the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae), grown commercially for the pharmaceutical and industrial uses of its oil and for use in landscaping because of its handsome, giant, ...
Castoroides: extinct genus of giant beavers found as fossils in Pleistocene deposits in North America (the Pleistocene Epoch began 1,600,000 years ago and ended 10,000 years ago). Castoroides attained a length ...
Castracani, Castruccio: condottiere, or captain of mercenaries, who ruled Lucca from 1316 to 1328.
castrato: male soprano or contralto voice of great range, flexibility, and power, produced as a result of castration before puberty. The castrato voice was introduced in the 16th century, when women ...
Castren, Matthias Alexander: Finnish nationalist and pioneer in the study of remote Arctic and Siberian Uralic and Altaic languages. He also championed the ideology of Pan-Turanianism-the belief in the racial unity and future ...
Castres: town, Tarn departement, Midi-Pyrenees region, southern France, on the Agout River, east of Toulouse. The site of a Gallo-Roman camp, the town developed around a Benedictine monastery that was founded ...
Castries: chief town of Saint Lucia island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, lying 40 miles (65 km) south of Fort-de-France, Martinique. Its fine landlocked deepwater harbour on the northwestern coast is ...
Castries, Christian de: French army officer who commanded during World War II and later in the Indochina War.
Castro: town, Chiloe provincia, southern Chile. It lies 45 miles (72 km) south of the town of Ancud, on the east coast of Chiloe Island. Castro was founded in 1567 and ...
Castro Alves, Antonio de: Romantic poet whose sympathy for the Brazilian abolitionist cause won him the name "poet of the slaves."
Castro y Bellvis, Guillen de: the most important and representative of a group of Spanish dramatists that flourished in Valencia. He is remembered chiefly for his work Las mocedades del Cid (1599?), upon which the ...
Castro, Americo: Spanish philologist and cultural historian who explored the distinctive cultural roots of Spain and Spanish America.
Castro, Cipriano: Venezuelan soldier and dictator, called the Lion of the Andes, who was the first man from the mountains to rule a nation that until the 20th century had been dominated ...
Castro, Eugenio de: leading Portuguese Symbolist and Decadent poet.
Castro, Fidel: political leader of Cuba (from 1959) who transformed his country into the first communist state in the Western Hemisphere. Castro became a symbol of communist revolution in Latin America. He ...
Castro, Ines de: mistress, before his accession, of Peter (Pedro) I of Portugal. She was famous because of her tragic death, which was related by such writers and poets as Luis de Camoes, ...
Castro, Joao de: naval officer who helped preserve the Portuguese commercial settlement in India and contributed to the science of navigation with three roteiros (pilot books). He was also the first to note ...
Castro, Rosalia de: the most outstanding modern writer in the Galician language, whose work is of both regional and universal significance.
Castrop-Rauxel: city, North Rhine-Westphalia Land (state), northwestern Germany. It lies near the Rhine-Herne Canal, in the eastern part of the Ruhr industrial district. First mentioned in 834, Castrop ...
casual: an essay written in a familiar, often humorous style. The word is usually associated with the style of essay that was cultivated at The New Yorker magazine.
casualty insurance: provision against loss to persons and property, covering legal hazards as well as those of accident and sickness. Major classes of casualty insurance include liability, theft, aviation, worker's compensation, credit, ...
casuariiform: (order Casuariiformes), any of a group of large, flightless birds that includes two families: Dromaiidae for the emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae; see ), found only in Australia; and Casuariidae for three ...
Casuarinales: the beefwood order of dicotyledonous flowering plants comprising the family Casuarinaceae, with two genera (Casuarina, 30 species; Gymnostoma, 20 species) of trees and shrubs, many of which have a distinctly ...
CAT: a radiologic diagnostic technique used in medicine. See tomography.
cat shark: (family Scyliorhinidae), any of more than 80 species of small, mottled sharks (order Lamniformes). Although many bottom-dwelling species are rare and poorly known ecologically, representatives have been found in all ...
cat snake: (genus Telescopus), any of about 15 species belonging to the family Colubridae. Cat snakes have vertical pupils, like a cat, and are nocturnal, preying chiefly on lizards.
cat's-eye: any of several gemstones that, when cut en cabochon (in convex form, highly polished), display a luminous band reminiscent of the eye of a cat; this particular quality is termed ...
cat, domestic: (species Felis catus), domesticated member of the family Felidae, order Carnivora. Like all felids, domestic cats, the smallest members of the family, are characterized by supple, low-slung ...
catabolism: the sequences of enzyme-catalyzed reactions by which relatively large molecules in living cells are broken down, or degraded. Part of the chemical energy released during catabolic processes is conserved in ...
cataclastite: any rock produced by dynamic metamorphism during which faulting, granulation, and flowage may occur in previously crystalline parent rocks. When stress exceeds breaking strength, a rock yields by rupture. The ...
catacomb: subterranean cemetery composed of galleries or passages with side recesses for tombs. The term, of unknown origin, seems to have been applied first to the subterranean cemetery under the Basilica ...
catafalque: ornate, often theatrical, usually movable funereal structure mounted on a stage to support a coffin for a lying-in-state. It is used for royalty and personages of distinction and is normally ...
Catalan language: Romance language spoken in eastern and northeastern Spain, chiefly in Catalonia and Valencia. It is also spoken in the Roussillon region of France, in Andorra, and in the Balearic Isles. ...
Catalan literature: the body of literature written in the Catalan language, prominent from the 13th to the 16th century and then revived in the 19th and 20th centuries.
catalase: an enzyme that brings about (catalyzes) the reaction by which hydrogen peroxide is decomposed to water and oxygen. Found extensively in mammalian tissues, catalase prevents the accumulation of and protects ...
catalexis and acatalexis: in prosody, an omission or incompleteness in the last foot of a line or other unit in metrical verse and, conversely, the metrical completeness of such a unit.
Catalhuyuk: major Neolithic site in the Middle East, located near Konya in south-central Turkey. Excavations (1961-65) by the British archaeologist James Mellaart have shown that Anatolia in Neolithic times was the ...
catalog verse: verse that presents a list of people, objects, or abstract qualities. Such verse exists in almost all literatures and is of ancient origin. The genealogical lists in the Bible and ...
Catalonia: comunidad autonoma ("autonomous community") and historic region of Spain, encompassing the northeastern Spanish provincias of Girona (Gerona), Barcelona, Tarragona, and Lleida (Lerida) and established by the statute of autonomy of ...
Catalonia Museum of Art: museum in the Palacio Nacional in Barcelona, housing one of the most important collections of medieval paintings in the world and also a fine and complete collection of Spanish ceramics. ...
catalpa: any of 11 species of trees in the genus Catalpa (family Bignoniaceae), native to eastern Asia, eastern North America, and the West Indies. Catalpas have large, attractive leaves and showy, ...
catalufa: any of certain fishes of the bigeye (q.v.) group.
catalysis: in chemistry, the modification of the rate of a chemical reaction, usually an acceleration, by addition of a substance not consumed during the reaction.
catalyst: in chemistry, any substance that increases the rate of a reaction without itself being consumed. Enzymes are naturally occurring catalysts responsible for many essential biochemical reactions.
catalyst poison: substance that reduces the effectiveness of a catalyst in a chemical reaction. In theory, because catalysts are not consumed in chemical reactions, they can be used repeatedly over an indefinite ...
catamaran: twin-hulled sailing and powered boat developed for sport and recreation in the second half of the 20th century. Its design is based on a raft of two logs bridged by ...
Catamarca: city, capital of Catamarca provincia (province), northwestern Argentina, on the Rio del Valle de Catamarca, a river between the two south-pointing spurs of the Andean peaks of ...
Catamarca: provincia (province), northwestern Argentina, separated from Chile by the Andes Mountains. The province is generally mountainous with intermontane tablelands and valleys (some fertile, others completely arid). The ...
Catanduanes: island, east-central Philippines, in the Philippine Sea, separated from southeastern Luzon (Rungus Point) by the shallow Maqueda Channel. Farming is diversified (rice, corn [maize], copra, abaca) on the hilly, rolling ...
Catanduva: city, in the highlands of north-central Sao Paulo estado (state) Brazil, on the Sao Domingos River at 1,630 feet (497 metres) above sea level. Originally called Vila ...
Catania: city, eastern Sicily, Italy, in the broad plain of Catania on the Ionian seacoast, south of Mount Etna. The city was founded in 729 BC by Chalcidians (settlers from Chalcis ...
Catania, Gulf of: inlet of the Ionian Sea on the eastern coast of Sicily. About 20 miles (32 km) long and 5 miles (8 km) wide, it lies between Cape Campolato (south) and ...
Catanzaro: city, capital of Calabria regione (region), southern Italy, at an elevation of 1,125 feet (343 metres) overlooking the Gulf of Squillace, southeast of Cosenza. Founded about the ...
catapult: mechanism for forcefully propelling stones, spears, or other projectiles, in use since ancient times. The Romans used the word ballista to designate an engine used to hurl stones and catapulta ...
cataract: in medicine, opacity of the crystalline lens of the eye. If the opaque areas are minute, scattered dots (a condition known as blue dot cataract, or punctate cataract) or if ...
cataract: a waterfall (q.v.), especially one containing great volumes of water rushing over a precipice.
Catargiu, Lascar: Romanian statesman, four times prime minister (1866, 1871-76, 1889, 1891-95), who played a leading role in national affairs through the country's early years of independence.
catastasis: the dramatic complication that immediately precedes the climax of a play or that occurs during the climax of a play. Compare catastrophe.
catastrophe: in literature, the final action that completes the unraveling of the plot in a play, especially in a tragedy. Catastrophe is a synonym of denouement. The term is sometimes applied ...
catastrophe theory: in mathematics, a set of methods used to study and classify the ways in which a system can undergo sudden large changes in behaviour as one or more of the ...
catastrophism: doctrine that explains the differences in fossil forms encountered in successive stratigraphic levels as being the product of repeated cataclysmic occurrences and repeated new creations. This doctrine generally is associated ...
Catatumbo River: river rising in northern Colombia. It flows northeast across the Venezuelan border, crosses rich oil-bearing regions in the Maracaibo Lowland, and empties into Lake Maracaibo after a course of about ...
Catawba: North American Indian tribe of Siouan language stock who inhabited the territory around the Catawba River in the Carolinas. Their principal village was on the west side of the river ...
catbird: any of several bird species named for their mewing calls, which are used in addition to song. The North American catbird (Dumetella carolinensis), of the family Mimidae (order Passeriformes), is ...